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NEW SOUTH WALES
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New South Wales
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| Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) |
| Motto: "Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites" (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) |
| Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State |
Other Australian states and territories |
| Capital |
Sydney
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| Government |
Const. Monarchy |
| Governor |
Professor Marie Bashir |
| Premier |
Morris Iemma (ALP) |
| Federal representation |
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| - House seats |
50 |
| - Senate seats |
12 |
Gross State
Product (2004-05) |
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| - Product ($m) |
$305,437 (1st) |
| - Product per capita |
$45,153/person (5th) |
Population
(End of March 2005) |
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| - Population |
6,764,600 (1st) |
| - Density |
8.45/km² (3rd) |
| Area |
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| - Total |
809,444 km² (5th) |
| - Land |
800,642 km² |
| - Water |
8,802 km² (1.09%) |
| Elevation |
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| - Highest |
Mount Kosciuszko (2,228m) |
| - Lowest |
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| Time zone |
UTC+10 (+11 DST)
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| Abbreviations |
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| - Postal |
NSW |
| - ISO 3166-2 |
AU-NS |
Website
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www.nsw.gov.au |
New South Wales (abbreviated as NSW) is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania (1825) South Australia (1836), Victoria (1855), and Queensland (1859). In 1901 these colonies plus Western Australia federated to form Commonwealth of Australia.
New South Wales is known the world over for the picturesque harbour of its capital, Sydney, Australia's oldest and largest city and a centre of international finance. Two-thirds of NSW's population lives in Sydney. Sydney was the host city of the 2000 Olympic Summer Games.
An inhabitant of New South Wales is referred to as a New South Welshman or, in gender-neutral language, as a New South Welsh person.
New South Wales is named after the region of South Wales, in Wales.
Timeline
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Geography
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New South Wales' three main cities from north to south are Newcastle, Sydney, and Wollongong, which all lie along the coast. Other notable settlements include Albury, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Armidale, Inverell, Lismore, Nowra, Griffith, Queanbeyan, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Goulburn and Coffs Harbour.
The state is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, and on the south by Victoria. Its coast faces the Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Jervis Bay Territory.
New South Wales can be divided geographically into four sections:
- A coastal strip, with climates warming from cool temperate on the far south coast to subtropical near the Queensland border, including the regions south of Sydney such as the Illawarra , the Shoalhaven near Nowra, Newcastle, the Central Coast and the North Coast.
- The mountainous areas of the Great Dividing Range and the high country surrounding them. Whilst not particularly steep, many peaks rise above 1000 m, with the highest Mount Kosciuszko at 2229 m (7308 ft). This includes the Southern Highlands, Central Tablelands and the New England regions.
- The agricultural plains that fill a significant portion of the state's area, with a much sparser population than the coast, includes the Riverina area around Wagga Wagga.
- The arid plains in the far north-west of the state, which feature few small settlements.
Highest maximum temperature: 50.0C (122.0F), Wilcannia, 11 January 1939
Lowest minimum temperature: -23.0C (-9.4F), Charlotte Pass, 29 June 1994 (lowest temperature recorded in whole of Australia) [1]
Government
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The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901 New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.
Under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained independence in all other areas. The New South Wales Constitution says: "The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever." In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.
The State Parliament is composed of two houses, the Legislative Assembly (lower house), and the Legislative Council (upper house). Elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday of March, the next being on 24 March 2007. At each election one member is elected to the Legislative Assembly from each of 99 electoral districts and half of the 42 members of the Legislative Council are elected by a statewide electorate.
New South Wales is a Constitutional Monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign, represented by the Governor of New South Wales. The current governor is Marie Bashir. The Governor commissions as Premier the Member of Parliament who can command a simple majority of votes in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier then recommends the appointment of other Members of the two Houses to the Ministry, under the principle of responsible or Westminster government. It should be noted, however, that there is no legal requirement in NSW for the Government to be formed from the Parliament - merely convention. The current Premier is Morris Iemma of the Australian Labor Party.
Economy
New South Wales has a Gross Domestic Product of AU$265,966,000,000, which equalled AU$39,950 per capita, in 2003. This was equal to US$30,277, above most major European Union economies.
Sport
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Throughout Australian history, NSW sporting teams have been very successful in both winning domestic competitions and providing players to the Australian national team. The NSW Blues play in the ING and Pura Cup cricket competitions, the NSW Waratahs in the Super 14 rugby competition and The 'Blues' represent NSW in the annual Rugby League State of Origin series.
External links
See also
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